Apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings



July 4, 1933. c. E. DANIELS 1,916,733

APPARATUS FOR FITTING THE ENDS OF PISTON RINGS I Filed Nov. 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l SHAW/M01,

July 4, 1933. c. E. DANIELS APPARATUS FORFITTING THE ENDS 0F PISTON RINGS Filed Nqv. 7, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmnkw CharksEDaniels,

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Patented July 4, 1933 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES E. DANIELS, OF ATGI-IISON, KANSAS APPARATUS FOR FITTING THE ENDS OF PISTON RINGS Application filed. November 17, 1931. Serial No. 575,630.

This invention relates to apparatus for grinding or fitting the ends of piston rings, and has particular reference to certain improvements in piston ring grinding or fitting devices of the type disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,540,765, issued June 9th, 1925, one special purpose of the improvements being to adapt devices of the type mentioned for grinding or fitting the ends of piston 10 rings wherein the ring ends are mitered or beveled.

As illustrated in my prior patent referred to, apparatus of the type in which the present improvements are adapted for incorporation is'inclusive essentially of a piston ring support and a grinding element mounted thereon for operation between the ends of the ring, and in this connection a particular bj ect of the invention isto mount the grind- 0 ing elementfor adjustment so that it may be employed to grind the ends of practically any ordinary type of ring and, in the case of rings having mitered or beveled ends, substantially without regard to the angularity or amount of bevel of the ends thereof.

Another particular object of the invention is to provide a simple, reliable and easily manipulatable means to hold a ring firmly against the support during grinding of the ring ends, whereby any chattering of the ring ends with consequent faulty grinding or fitting of the same is effectively avoided.

Another special object of the invention is to provide readily interchangeable driving means for the cutting or grinding element of the apparatus whereby such element may be power driven or be driven either directly at the same speed or indirectly at practically any desired rate of speed by a manually operable crank or the like.

-With the foregoing-and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the improvements is better understood, the same consists in the 5 novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be herein: after more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

.- In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views Figure 1 is a top plan view of a piston ring grinding or fitting device of the type illustrated in my prior patent and embodying the improvements constituting the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line .22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation showing the adjustable support for the grinding element.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation showing an alternative driving means for the cutting or grinding element of the apparatus and Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 show ing another alternative driving means for the cutting or grinding element. Since the present improvements are concerned particularly with the adjustment of the grinding element and its driving means and with the holding down of the ring being ground against thebase or ring supporting element of a device of the type illustrated in my prior patent, and since the means for positioning the ring on the base or support is, or may be, the same as the ring positioning means shown in the patent, it has been deemed suflicient for purposes of disclosure of the present improvements and to avoid unnecessary repetition of the showing in the patent simply to illustrate the base or support and the ring positioning means conventionally. Accordingly, referring to the drawings in detail, 10 designates, generally, a base plate or support which is radially slotted for accommodation of radially movable ring positioning elements designated as 11, these elements being adapted for collective inward and out ward movement by means (not shown) 10- cated beneath the base and operable by the handle 12, the ring to be ground, designated as B, being adapted to rest upon the base plate 10 vwithin the positioning elements 11 and to be held by the latter against expan- SlOIl.

In accordance with the practical embodiment' of the invention illustrated in the present instance a bracket 13 formed with a pivot pin 14: is bolted or otherwise suitably secured about said pivot pin.

to the base at the side thereof with the pivot pin extending horizontally outward, and on said pivot pin is rotatably mounted the downwardly extending arm of a substantially L-shaped grinding element carrier 16, the other arm 17 of which extends inwardly over the base plate and at its inner end carries the cutting tool illustrated in the present instance as a relatively thin grinding wheel designated as 18. Preferably the inner end of the arm 17 is bifurcated for the accom-- modation of the wheel-18 which is fixed to shaft 19 j ournaled in the end portions of said arm, but obviously the 'wheel may be mounted on said arm in any other suitable or desired manner: Likewise,- any desired means may be employed for securing the carrier 16 in any desired position of angular adjustment about the pivot pin 14, but as a simple, practical means of accomplishing this purpose the arm 15 of the carrier preferably islongitudinally split to provide the two cl anip.sec-' tions 15*, and a bolt 20 is extended loosely 1 through one of these sections and threaded into the other whereby the sections maybe drawn into clamping relation to the pivot pin thus to secure the carrier in desired angularly adjusted position'about'said pivot pin. To facilitate loosening and tighteningof the bolt 20 the same preferably is equipped with a handle 21, and since the grinding wheel 18 .may be manually rotated, the shaft 19 to which said wheel is hired may be extended beyond one side of the carrier arm 17 and bent to provide a crank 22., p c To permit the lower edge portion of the grinding wheel to extend below the top surface of the base plate 10 the latter isradially grooved in ali'nenient with the pivot pin 1 1 ring ends are not beveled they may be ground the wheel 18 simply by adjusting the wheel to a perpendicular position relative to the base plate.

i In grind ng the ends of piston of the f; mitered orbeveled end type by the present devicei't has been found desirable to'hold the end of the ring which overlies the grinding wheel firmly against the base plate 10 in order to avoid any chatteringof said ring end asa consequence of rotation of the grinding wheel, and to this end the present improveend of arod or arm 26, this arm being of a length to extend outwardly across the ring .712. and being provided at its outer end with ahand grip formation 27 whereby it is adapted to be grasped and pressed downward against the ring tov hold the same firmly against the base. Preferably, but not necessarily, aspring .28'is interposed between the under side of the base plate 10 and a stop 29 onthe pin 24 whereby the pin is permitted to yield upwardly, thus to provide for a cer-v tain amount of yield'ability of the rod or arm 26 which hasbeen found desirable.

- Referring to-Figs'. land 2 of the drawings, it willbe observed that the carrier 16 is provided with a pair of transverse openings 30 and '31-, the formerof which is disposed sub stantially at the junction of the arms 15. and 17 preferably in horizontal or substantially horizontal alinement with the axisof the grinding wheel, and the latter of-which is 10- cated substantiallymedially of the arm 17.

lVhenit is' desired to provide for manually driving the grinding wheel by a crank Ol lhe like at-a" desired relatively high or low rate of speedan appliance as illustrated in Fig. l is employed. That is to say, a short shaftlS for the gringing wheel 18 is employed in lieu of the cranked shaft 19 of Figs. 1 and 2 and on'said shaft 19 is splined or otherwise secured abevelfgear By means of a' thumb screw or the like-33 threaded into the opening'31 a shaft bearing 34 is clamped securely against the carrier arm 17, and in the opening- '30 is" journaled a shaft 35 equipped at one end with a crank handle 86 and at its other end with a bevel gear 37. The bearing 34: carries a shaft 38 on one end of whichyis fixed a bevel gear 39 and on the other end Of'.W l1iG ll is fixed a bevel gear 10, these gears meshing, respectively, with the gears'32 and 37. Obviously, rotation 'ofthe ios shaft-35 by means of the crank handle 36 eite'cts'rotation of thegrinding wheel 19, and

as is also obvious, by changing the size of the 7 gears 32,37, 39an'd 40, the grinding wheel maybe adapted for rotation atvarious different rates of speed for any given rate of speed of the manually rotatable shaft 35.

' If,'inst ea'd of manually rotating the grinding wheel it maybe desired to drive the same by power furnished from a mechanical source such, for example, as an electric motor, an appliance as illustrated in Fig. 5 may be employed; This vappliance comprises a gear ousing alwhichis adapted to be secured against the arm 17 of the carrier '16byabolt orbolts engaged in either or both'oit' the o'penin'gs 30 and 31 in said arm, said housing having journaled therein a shaft 42 equipped at one end with a grooved belt wheel 48 or similar means to be driven in any desired manner to impart rotation to the shaft, and also being equipped with a worm l meshing with a worm wheel 45 keyed or otherwise suitably fiXed to the shaft 19 on which the grinding wheel 18 is mounted.

Obviously, worm gears, bevel or miter gears, or spur gears may be employed in either of the appliances illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and it is further apparent that to adapt the apparatus for operation in the manner indicated by either of said figures only a relatively slight amount of labor is required and the change may be effected with ease and dispatch.

lVithout further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spiritof the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In an apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings, a base plate constituting a ring support, a substantially radially and horizontally disposed pivot pin fixed with repect to said base plate, a substantially L-shaped cutting tool carrier inclusive of a substantially horizontal arm overlying said base plate and a downwardly directed arm mounted on said pivot pin for rotative adjustment thereon, means for fastening the last mentioned arm upon said pivot pin in any rotated position of said arm relative to said pin, and a cutting tool carried by the horizontal arm for operation between the ends of a piston ring disposed on said base plate.

2. In an apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings, a base plate constituting a ring support, means for positioning a ring upon said base plate, a cutting tool carried by said base plate for operation between the ends of a ring disposed upon said base plate, a longitudinally yieldable pin mounted on the base plate, and a lever element pivoted at one end to said pin and adapted to be positioned across a ring disposed on said base plate and to be pressed downward at its other end to hold the ring firmly against the base plate during operation of said cutting tool.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which the pivot pin extends through the base plate and is provided at the under side of the base plate with an abutment, and a spring disposed between said abutment and the under side of the base plate.

4. In apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings, a base plate constituting a ring support, a substantially L-shaped cutting tool carrier inclusive of a substantially horizontal arm overlying the base plate and a downwardly directed arm pivotally mounted on the base plate for adjustments to dispose a cutting tool carried by the horizontal arm at different angles relative to the base plate, a cutting tool mounted on the horizontal arm of said carrier, and means for securing carrier in dilferent angular positions relative to said base plate.

5. In apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings, a base plate constituting a ring support, a substantially L-shaped cutting tool carrier inclusive of a substantially horizontal arm overlying the base plate and a downwardly directed arm pivotally mounted on the base plate for swinging adjustments in a vertical plane to dispose a cutting tool carried. by the horizontal arm at different angles relative to the base plate, a cutting tool mounted on the horizontal arm of said carrier, and means for securing said carrier in different angular positions relative to said base plate.

6. In apparatus for fitting the ends of piston rings, a horizontal base plate constituting a ring support, means for positioning a ring upon said base plate, a cutting tool mounted for operation between the ends of a ring disposed upon said base plate, a vertical pin mounted for rotation and vertical movement centrally of said ring positioning means, yieldable means resisting upward movement of said pin, and alever pivoted at its inner end to said pin and adapted to be positioned across a ring disposed upon said base plate and to be pressed downwardly at its outer end to hold the ring firmly against the base plate during operation of said cutting tool.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

CHARLES E. DANIELS. 

